Why do petrol tank trucks hang a long chain in the back?

When traveling on the road, many people have seen a gasoline tank truck, usually hung a long chain behind the car dropped onto the road surface. So what is the purpose of this. Let’s find out through the article below to get the answer.

When tank trucks move gasoline or oil, these substances will come into contact with the dry air inside the tank. During the process of moving, this area of ​​air will rub against the wall of the tank, causing electrical pollution.

Combining the two conditions above, a gasoline tank truck when moving is more likely to experience static electricity (static electricity), a phenomenon that usually occurs when there is an imbalance in the charge on the surface of a material. easy to cause fire and explosion.

These charges will be stored on that surface. They can be transferred to other places by transferring electricity or discharging with electric sparks.

To solve the electrostatic problem, a chain (with high conductivity) is used to quickly convert these ‘static’ charges into electric current and transmit to the ground to neutralize electricity, avoiding causing Explosion.

Static electricity can not only occur when the tank truck is in motion, but can also occur when filling the tank with gasoline or vice versa. In this case, people use specialized equipment to neutralize electricity such as the RTR – Road Tanker Grounding (Earthing) system.